Unrelenting Fate
by WatUCWatIC
Summary: Clara popped out of a cake and decided to show the teens of Berk, Stoick, Gobber, some other person and their dragons the second How To Train Your Dragon movie. This unrelenting providence will probably be useless in the long run, but at least we can enjoy the characters' reactions before they forget their fate, right? Watching HTTYD2! Set a week after the Gift of the Night Fury.
1. Life is like a birthday cake

**This is only the HTTYD2 script and the final few moments of Fated Present, and yet there are already 41 pages in this Word document. I have entered college, currently am a freshman. I wrote Watching Your Fate Change before my freshman year of high school and posted it over the course of 4 months before the New Years. I was very frustrated with Watching HTTYD fics back then and am** _ **still**_ **so annoyed by a lot of "watching" stuff I come across. Including my own, nowadays (though mine is still more fun to read).**

 **I want to write a modern AU for the books and I have always wanted to write one for the movies anyway. Since I haven't seen any Watching HTTYD2 fanfics, I'm not frustrated enough to write my own. Huge gumption issue there yo. None of these fics are getting finished!**

 **My writing, I think, has regressed over the years. I enjoy reading my old fics more than anything I write now (yes, I read my own shit, fuck off). Clara and Zero are meta AF now that I think about it. I swear to god they existed before WYFC! That fic was both a result of Clara and my frustrations; she was not a result of my frustrations and that fic.**

 **My name is Marge, not Clara. I do have a protagonist named Marge, but if Darren Shan can do it, so can I. She's not going to pop up anywhere near here, btw, no worries. Also, Clara isn't the protagonist type! Too OP, who'd wanna read about her directly unless it was from a fanfic about the main story? No. It would be like one of those time-travel Merlin fanfics, but the fic is canon and the original never existed. That'll be hard to pull off.**

 **The AN has gone on too long. I don't want things to continue immediately after FP, though I'm good with going to after Gift of the Night Fury, since I haven't seen the show in a long time. I still have to catch up to the one on Netflix too, damn. BTW, HTTYD2 is no longer on Netflix, so this'll have to be done with only the script for the most part.**

* * *

 **HICCUP (V.O.)  
Winter in Berk lasts most of the year. It hangs on with both hands and won't let go. And the only real comforts against the cold are those you keep close to your heart.**

"Booring," Snotlout sings.

 **HICCUP  
Okay bud, you ready?**

 _ **Toothless grunts, yes. Hiccup jumps from the saddle and dives headfirst to the ground. Toothless pulls in his wings and follows beside him.  
While falling, they exchange a glance. Toothless paws at Hiccup, spinning him around in the air. They close their eyes and let the wind rush past.**_

Smiling, Hiccup brings his dragon closer. He and Toothless were closer, that much was obvious.

 **HICCUP (V.O.)  
Turns out that was the best Snoggletog ever. That year, I gave my best friend a pretty great gift.**

"Oh yes, great gift," Gobber said, "That's why he tore it apart."

Somehow, Hiccup thought that to be a whole gift all by itself.

 _ **Hiccup grabs hold of Toothless's saddle, and clicks the pedal. Toothless's wings extend, and he pulls up just in time. His wings slice snow off the top of two trees on the ground.  
Toothless roars with excitement.**_

"Yeah!" Hiccup cheers, feeling what he thought was only a hundredth of the rush he must've been feeling in the movie. Berk cheers along.

"How does Hiccup always come up with the best winter games?" Bucket asked himself, clapping.

 **HICCUP (V.O.)  
He gave me a better one.**

 _'Hel yeah I did,'_ Toothless roars, licking his rider.

"Toothless!"

 _ **FADE TO WHITE**_

Hiccup continued to stare at the screen, high on destiny.

"That's it?" Snotlout asks, bored.

"Yes. Now let us leave, Clara," Zero said, voice low and threatening. Hiccup scowled but didn't speak. He really didn't like Zero.

"But Zero! We just have to-"

"No. They are going back and you are coming with me. The Piru Council will be furious and we'll both get in trouble."

"I don't want to!"

"Too bad," Zero responded.

In an instant, Hiccup was out. The last thing he heard was a cry for "Zero!"

* * *

Hiccup woke up. He was in his bed. Hadn't he been on his desk last night?

Outside, the sun was lowering.

Meaning it was sometime around three o'clock.

Three!?

Hiccup jumped off his bed, glad as ever to sleep with his boots on. He raced outside, intent on reaching Gobber's only to find the smithie empty and closed. Around him, Vikings of Berk were only just waking up.

Had they all woken up late?

* * *

 ** _(End the expositional flashback; start boring yet mandatory expositional precedent to story. Skip to second chapter if birthday cake doesn't interest you.)_**

* * *

A few months would pass before the villagers could understand what could have possibly made them all "sleep in" that day. It came in the form of a birthday cake.

It was left in the care of the teenagers of Berk (for some odd reason) while Bucket went to tell Stoick the "good news."

They weren't quite sure it was a birthday cake, nor that it was anyone's birthday at all. They only knew that it was a big cake and it could either be poisoned or delicious.

 _It's an occupational hazard_ , thought Snotlout, inching his way toward the gigantic and colorful cake. It looked too good. Frankly, death by cake was sounding like a great way to go at the moment.

He raised a finger toward the icing, licking his lips in anticipation.

Before he could touch it, a force pulled him backward, and he fell on his behind.

"What the- Hookfang!" he complained loudly, knowing the culprit despite his helmet covering his eyes. "You always do this!"

Though one would usually agree that the dragon was a little tough on his rider, Hiccup simply stared at Snotlout with eyes that said, "You're kidding me, right?"

"Snotlout," Astrid spoke aloud, directing a similar stare at him, "Hookfang might've just saved your life. We've been avoiding contact with this cake for a reason."

Fishlegs raised his hand to answer an unasked question. "Yeah! It could be poisoned, or it could be made of rocks. Heck, it could actually be a very patient changewing in disguise!"

"I don't think it's quite that, Fishlegs," Hiccup smiled halfheartedly. "However, we don't know who sent it, so we can't know if it's dangerous or not."

It looked very glamorous for a cake that Bucket had found by the rocky shores of Berk. Not a speck of dirt had reached it, somehow, and the frigid weather kept it looking steadily delicious.

"You just want first dibs," Snotlout jeered, raising his helmet to glare at Hiccup. Hiccup's stare returned full force.

"I don't know," Tuffnut joined the conversation with a suspicious white streak on the corner of his mouth, "it's doesn't taste like poison."

"And he should know," Ruffnut poked her head out from behind him. Crumbs fell out of her mouth as she spoke.

"Tuffnut, Ruffnut!" Hiccup exclaimed, raising his hands in a motion that could have meant he either wanted to help or strangle the twins. "I clearly told you not to touch the cake!"

"Don't look at us," Ruffnut averted her eyes offendedly and pointed at their Zippleback. "Barf and Belch started it." The dragon's faces were conspicuously covered in cake.

The urge to strangle was winning.

"Are you kidding me? If your dragon jumped off a cliff would you-" Hiccup thought better of the statement and decided to drop the thought before anyone could make fun of him. "Whatever. Are you guys feeling ill?"

"A little, but it could just be the mysterious goo Ruff found under her bed and made me eat this morning."

"I feel fine," Ruffnut added. Behind her, Barf and Belch nodded at each other with kindred enthusiasm.

"So, the cake is fine," Snotlout claimed, jumping to his feet and toward the treat.

"We should still wait for the chief," Astrid told him with crossed arms, but he was already smashing his face in. She glanced at his dragon, but Hookfang was lying in a corner of the training area, looking at Snotlout with total indifference. He'd tried. Astrid couldn't blame him.

"Well," Fishlegs inched his way toward the cake shyly, "it does look like it's safe to touch." He looked to Meatlug for her silent encouragement, which she gave wholeheartedly. Immediately he began to dig in as well.

Hiccup's hand was covering his face, simultaneously disassociating him from the other teenagers of Berk and hiding a small smile.

Astrid made her way to his side, glancing at him smugly. Hiccup could have a lot of feelings about the teenagers, most of which bordered on frustration and amusement.

He was also a teenager, just like them.

He gave up hiding his face and showed her a simper. "If you can't beat 'em," he started, taking a step forward. Behind him, Toothless gave a huff of despair at human antics.

Astrid wasn't taking any chances. If all her friends suddenly got paralyzed, they needed at least one person to head to the village for help. Her arms remained crossed, her stare remained on the teens.

"Though that cake does look pretty good," she said quietly. Stormfly nudged her forward. "No, I refuse." She had to stay strong. If not for duty, then for dignity.

She watched almost ( _almost!_ ) jealously as Hiccup took a final step toward the cake and raised a hand to scrape some of the frosting. He made contact and almost managed to bring his finger to his lips when…

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

The riders of Berk jumped back when a pink-haired woman jumped out of the cake from an entrance at the top. Hiccup fell on his butt and Toothless jumped to his side in an instant. Astrid took out her ax simultaneously. Each dragon stood at their corresponding owner's side.

The woman inside the cake continued to smile, as if waiting for a reaction from the teens. She'd certainly gotten one, but it was apparently not the one she hoped.

"No? No one?"

"Uh, guys," Fishlegs whispered hesitantly, though the witch could probably hear him, "What kind of cake is _that_?" He was regretting every bite he'd taken by the second.

"It's a pop-out cake," the pink-haired one answered, climbing out and jumping to the ground. She landed on her tiptoes and almost tipped over before regaining her balance.

While her hair was pink, her shirt and skirt were violet. On her left shoulder, a diamond as blue as her eyes connected the front and back of her shirt.

"Get it? It's because I popped out of the cake."

"I get it," Tuffnut answered, looking around. It wasn't too hard to understand, right?

"Yeah, we all get it," Ruffnut said, glaring at her brother and throwing a hard punch at his shoulder.

"See, they get it. It's vanilla, by the way. The cake and the frosting."

"Whoa, you mean I'm not imagining the pink chick coming out of the giant cake?" Snotlout asked, secretly pinching himself to see if he was asleep, but his skin was too thick to feel much. Hookfang huffed out a flame, which pushed on his back painfully.

"Ow! Hookfang, why don't you love me?!"

Snotlout glared at his dragon before he realized the pain had been, in fact, quite painful.

"Odin, I'm not dreaming?"

"You're not dreaming," Hiccup responded, standing a head behind Toothless. He kept a hand on his dragon, eyes on the pink one.

He wasn't eager to kill the witch in front of him. Sure, he might not want to kill her for the same reason he didn't want to kill dragons, but it felt different than simple (yet oh so complicated) empathy.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

Astrid glanced at him, glad she wasn't the only one feeling familiar. She looked at Fishlegs to find he wasn't _too_ terrified either. Even Snotlout and the twins seemed to recognize the pink one.

"Define 'know,'" she said, twiddling with her thumbs and swinging her skirt from left to right childishly.

"She's obviously a witch," Astrid said. Hiccup raised his eyes to meet hers. "She could have altered our memory. She's probably evil."

He looked doubtful.

"I am _not_ evil," the witch exclaimed in offense. "I am a nice witch! You were right about the rest though."

Fishlegs was the first to cower behind his dragon, yelping out, "She's a witch!"

Snotlout let out a loud curse and proceeded to do the same. "Witches are nothing but trouble!"

The twins, predictably, were highly attracted to trouble. "Whoa, you can do magic?"

"Can you teach us?"

Hiccup intervened without fault, bringing his hand up to push them away. "Uh, no. No no no no no no, not on my watch. Away from the witch. Barf and Belch, please?" He sent the Hideous Zippleback a pleading look, which was backed up by a soft growl from Toothless.

Somewhat reluctantly, the Zippleback's heads grabbed their respective twin by the scruff of their shirt.

"Hey, put me down!"

"Ah, you're pulling my hair!"

Hiccup turned to the witch, now officially the spokesperson of the group (and apparently all of Berk because his father had not bothered to show up to check on the cake yet).

"I'll believe you aren't evil," he said, much to the group's chagrin.

Astrid and Toothless looked at him like he was crazy. He ignored them.

"For now," he added because he might be a little trusting (or crazy), but he's not stupid.

Stormfly looked ready to attack with deadly spines, so Hiccup made sure to stay in between her and the witch. Astrid's chagrin grew.

"You said you erased our memories," Hiccup continued. "Mind giving those back? If you want us to trust you, that is."

She grinned smugly. "You sound like you already trust me."

He didn't answer. It was mostly for her benefit to give them back the memories, he wanted to reason. Instead, he fixed the same stare he'd given Snotlout earlier on her.

She started to look guilty. "I don't really have an unspell for the forget-me-yes spell," she admitted pitifully. "Sorry."

"You mean there are memories in my head that I will never recover," Fishlegs shot out from behind Meatlug, distressed by the idea of lost knowledge.

"I mean, not really." She shrugged. "They wouldn't be in your head anymore. Besides, I showed you the future, but by now, you've lived through all that. So, everything should be fine." She nodded with a tenor of finality.

"What?" Hiccup shook his head, clearing a jumble of thoughts with each turn. "What do you mean you 'showed us the future' and that we've 'lived through all that?'"

"Is there an echo in here?" she asked the hanging twins, who shrugged their shoulders as best they could. "Who cares, I want to show you the second movie!"

"Huh?"

"I mean prophecy! That's why I came here. Well, actually, it was mostly an accident I landed here, but beggars can't be choosers! I've been waiting years for this, and I gotta do it before Zero finds out I landed here!"

"You're losing me," Hiccup said.

"That's okay."

A loud voice trailed into the arena, apart from the ongoing conversation. "…nd so doubtful. I'm just saying, if they really liked my foot, they might like my peg!"

Stoick (with a very highly raised eyebrow) entered the scene with Gobber at his side and the witch's mood seems to shake at the sight.

Ah, so she was afraid of his dad. Hiccup took note. Or Gobber. No, she was looking at Stoick.

"Hiccup," Stoick said, "What is this about a big cake- and who is this?" The chief doesn't take a step back, though he does take a wary stance when he spots the witch.

The witch, in turn, averted her eyes.

"Why's there a hole in the cake?" Gobber asked with disappointed eyes.

 _Though she doesn't look very afraid_ , he thought, _just…sad._

"U-uhm," the witch brought her thumb to her mouth, biting it. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea." She drags her eyes to the ground where her feet danced timidly.

 _Who would want to see them react to_ that _scene? No, no, that's horrible, I can't even imagine it_ , Clara worried with a furrowed brow and a bitten thumb. _I should go_.

While her inner turmoil was taken out on her poor thumb, the Berkians discussed the witch.

"She said she can show us the future. That she has already before," Hiccup said, facing his father. Gobber stood between them and to the side, a useless middleman to the altercation.

"She's a witch," Stoick argued.

"She's a 'nice witch.'"

"There is no such thing."

"You said that about dragons too," Hiccup complained.

A strange set of thoughts—mostly because this fic must get written somehow, no matter how meta it gets—brought Clara to the conclusion that she should just go for it, even if the aftermath was heartbreaking.

"Guess this is happening," she said out loud. Even she was surprised about what would happen next. _I can't believe I'm doing this_.

Nobody paid her mind, but it didn't matter. In a matter of seconds, those present were unconscious.

* * *

You don't know this, but Clara remembered too late she had changed the theater a while back to show the Guardians _Rise of the Guardians_ , which made it quite cramped for the entire village.

Fortunately, she felt some of the scenes she'd be showing weren't quite "show the entire village" appropriate and restricted herself to kidnapping only the Berkians in the arena. Sadly, this means Gothi will not be making an appearance. Maybe only the writer is sad about this though...

Somewhere across an ocean or two or three, many dragons were freaking out at the sudden disappearance of their human caretaker. She now sat at the back of the theater, next to a Stormcutter.

* * *

It took a while to calm the Vikings and dragons, but Clara was good at controlling people's limbs.

"I did this last time too, but back then I was afraid you guys would hurt the dragons, not me," she made conversation while she set up the DVD player in an unnecessarily manual manner. "I must be real special to have both species going at me now."

"Kidnapping doesn't gain you much favor," Astrid retorted, and Hiccup couldn't help but agree. He patted Toothless, who seemed to be stuck in attack mode.

"Calm down, buddy," he whispered. Toothless did not. Stubborn.

"You're complaining a lot more than last time," the witch noted. "It was Stoick who wouldn't shut up before. He wouldn't even get my name right; can you believe it?"

Although, she _had_ taken precaution and sealed Stoick's lips this time.

"We don't know your name," Hiccup responded.

She looked surprised. "Oh," she laughed, "right, the forget-me-yes. I'm Clara."

She pressed play. The screen lit up with temporarily blinding light, forcing the onlookers to squint.

* * *

 **I make no promises, but at least I have written down up the the first five minutes clip's ending! Which is more than I can say I've had in the past, what, four or five years since the 2** **nd** **movies been out?**

 **TL;DR: The birthday cake is a -lie- trap. Clara kidnaps the teens, Stoick and Gobber, and Valka (plus their dragons at the moment). They don't remember watching the first movie and Gift of the Night Fury, but they have been through that. It's like one week after GotNF. The author has gotten involved because Clara would not be forcing Stoick, Hiccup, Valka, and Gobber to watch this movie otherwise. Neither would the author if she thought she could.**

 **But the author can't, so the author will force the duty on Clara.**


	2. Astrid Takes the Game!

**Got the script from the wiki. Enjoy.**

* * *

 **[Opening credits roll, followed by a shot of the village of Berk in the daytime]**

 **Hiccup: (V.O.) This... is Berk.**

"Whoa, whoa, what is going on?" Snotlout exclaimed, staring at the screen with his mouth agape.

"This is- "

"You're showing us the future again?" Hiccup asked, eyes wide. "Is that my voice?"

"Uh, duh," Clara said. She thought better before wincing. "I did tell you, didn't I?"

"No," Stoick said quietly, "you did not." He looked at the screen, entranced by the bright future of his people. A true chief at heart.

"Rewind," Clara said half-heartedly, looking at Stoick's enchanted eyes and the movie did as she ordered. She glanced at the unnoticed figure and dragon at the very back of the room, obscured in the shadows.

 **The best kept secret this side of, well, anywhere. Granted, it may not look like much, but this wet heap of rock packs more than a few surprises.**

Gobber had already made himself comfortable, the adaptable man that he is. "Sounds like Hiccup alright," he said.

Ruffnut jumped on board immediately, having been practicing for this moment. "Yeah, that voice is unmistakable," she continued to speak in a nasally voice, "I'm Hiccup, I shot down my best friend and lost my helmet last week."

"I do not sound like that!" Hiccup turned to Astrid, seated next to him. "I don't sound like that."

She smiled but didn't respond. Traitor. He should have known Toothless was his only ally. He turned to his dragon, on his other side. Toothless avoided his gaze.

Traitors, all of them.

 **[On a cluster of sheep, hiding nervously between buildings as shadows of passing dragons race by. The group moves as one, receding into a shadowy alley, pushing one sheep out into the light. It's suddenly snatched and carried into the air!]**

The group gasped.

"Did that dragon just snatch that sheep?" Gobber asked.

"I thought this was the future," Hiccup said.

"It is."

"The dragons," Stoick said, unable to finish the statement when he himself had gotten so attached to the creatures already. His entire village had.

"Berk does…look different," Hiccup contended. The village…looked a little weird, actually.

 **Hiccup: (V.O.) Life here is amazing, just not for the faint of heart.**

"You can say that again," muttered Fishlegs.

 **See, where most folks enjoy hobbies like whittling or needlepoint, we Berkians prefer a little something we like to call-**

 **[WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH! A wash of vibrant colors blurs by. Dragons Barrel past at a dizzying speed. Their riders swipe, kick, and roll into one another while they weave neck in neck between the houses, docks, and revamped structures of Berk.]**

 **Hiccup: (V.O.) DRAGON RACING!**

"By Odin's- " Snotlout's cursing was cut out by the other teenager's exclamations!

"Whoa! Is that us!?"

"What is going on!"

 **Fishlegs: WHOOOOOOO!**

"Fishlegs looks so old," Tuffnut exclaimed, pointing at the screen obnoxiously.

"Of course he does, idiot." Ruff bangs her fist against his helmet. "It's the future, weren't you paying attention?"

"Forget that," Fishlegs said with a pale face, "why am I going so fast!?" He hugs Meatlug, possibly in an attempt to slow her down onscreen.

 **[Fishlegs, now 20 and even larger, rides his Gronckle, Meatlug, who carries the sheep in her claws, until Snotlout, also 20, but every bit as juvenile, and his Monstrous Nightmare, Hookfang, side-check them steal their sheep.]**

 **Snotlout: Oh, I'm sorry, Fishlegs! Did you want that?**

"Yeah, tell him future me!"

"Snotlout! That was so dangerous! And that's mine!"

"And so it begins," Clara murmurs to herself.

 **[Fishlegs glares at Snotlout.]**

 **Fishlegs: Snotlout! That's mine!**

 **[Snotlout falls back toward Ruffnut and Tuffnut, who lag on their Hideous Zippleback, Barf and Belch.]**

 **Snotlout: Here ya go, babe.**

 **[With a chivalrous grin, Snotlout tosses the sheep to Ruffnut. She snatches it with a sneer and a grumble.]**

"What the fuck," Snotlout and Ruffnut say in unison before looking at each other in disgust.

"Don't copy me," Ruffnut yelled.

"You're copying me!"

"Shut up, you weirdo," she leaned away from his direction, elbowing and stepping on Tuffnut in the process. Really, she was crawling her way to another seat at this point.

 **Snotlout: Did I tell you that you look amazing today? 'Cause you do.**

"Wow," Tuffnut said, Ruff's hand pushing against his cheek as he pushed against her side, "I didn't know someone could actually like you like that."

 **Ruffnut: (Disgusted) Ugh. Come on, Barf. It's starting to stink around here.**

 **[Barf starts to peel off, spewing gas. Tuffnut mocks Snotlout with a mugging grin.]**

Tuff laughed as Ruff finally reached the other seat. "Haha, she hates you!"

 **Tuffnut: Nope. Still hates you. Let's blow this place, Belch! Alright!**

"What? How could she possible hate this?" Snotlout posed for his audience. Ruff pretended to vomit while Tuff laughed.

 **[Belch ignites the gas, sparking a flashy explosion, and leaving Snotlout behind in the smoke. As they rush past the main bleachers, Ruffnut drops her sheep into one of five baskets suspended over a chasm at the lap crossing. Each backboard bears an image of its corresponding dragon. The Barf/Belch basket filled to the brim with sheep. Presiding over the game, Stoick turns to the frenzied crowd.]**

 **Stoick: Ha-ha! That's nine for the Twins, Astrid lags with three, and Fishlegs and Snotlout trail with NONE!**

"The twins are winning?" Astrid exclaimed.

"It's probably because Snotlout's giving his sheep to Ruff," Hiccup comforted her with a pat in the back.

"Unacceptable!"

 **[Stoick eyes an empty basket at the far end, its backboard painted with an image of Toothless.]**

"Is that your basket?" Astrid continued more calmly, squinting at the screen.

 **Stoick: And Hiccup is... nowhere to be found. Hmmm.**

"We're beating Hiccup!" The twins high fived.

 **Gobber: Scared him off with the big talk, didn't ya, Stoick?**

Hiccup recoiled at the words. "Big talk?" he repeated.

"Ohoho," laughed Gobber behind him, slapping his knee and then Stoick's shoulder. "I think I know where this is going!"

 **[WHACK! Snotlout, still smoldering from the blast, gets clipped from behind. Astrid, rolls in, astride Stormfly, spirited and competitive as ever, and beautiful despite herself.]**

 **Astrid: What are you doing, Snotlout?! They're going to win now!**

 **Snotlout: She's my princess! Whatever she wants, she gets!**

 **Astrid: Ruffnut?! Didn't she try to bury you alive?!**

 **Snotlout: Only for a few hours!**

"You're kidding me, right?" Astrid followed. The twins high-fived again, proud nuts through and through.

 **Hiccup: (V.O.) Dragons used to be a bit of a problem here. But that was five years ago. Now, they've all moved in. And, really, why wouldn't they?**

 **[The racers chase each other through a sprawling hangar and into a vast cave, teeming with colorfully painted dragon stables. They exit through the far side and circle back through the village, blasting past many of its dragon-friendly additions.]**

 **Hiccup: (V.O.) We have custom stables... all-you-can-eat feeding stations... a full service dragon wash... Even top-of-the-line fire prevention, if I do say so myself.**

"This looks," Hiccup struggled to complete his sentence.

"Amazing," Stoick finished, looking at his village with satisfaction.

 **[In the village, a baby Gronckle sneezes, accidentally setting one of the Viking houses aflame. Astrid peels away from the other dragon racers, and yanks open a spout on the overhead network of aqueducts, dousing the flames with a surge of water. Back to Stoick, amused as he watches the racers round the island, searching for sheep. He turns to Gobber and nods.]**

"Handy, that," said Gobber.

 **Stoick: It's time, Gobber.**

 **Gobber: Righty-ho! (Aloud, to the crowd) Last lap!**

 **[A horn sounds. The racers all turn to each other, excited.]**

 **Astrid: The Black Sheep! Come on, Stormfly! We can still win this thing!**

"Hah! Fat chance," Ruffnut shouted.

"Thorstons are winning this one!"

"Ugh," Snotlout groaned, "You better win this for me Astrid."

"Are you kidding? If I'm winning, I'm winning for _me_!"

"Meatlug and I could be the winners!" Fishlegs shot out, oddly competitive.

Hiccup smiled at his gang, before glancing at the screen. He imagined his empty basket again, wondering why he wasn't playing along. Patting Toothless, he leaned back into his chair. "Hope we get to play soon, bud."

Toothless looked like he agreed. He even looked a little confident. No, he looked arrogant. 'We'd beat them easily.'

 **Ruffnut: Come on, Barf!**

 **Tuffnut: Let's go!**

 **Fishlegs: Go, Meatlug!**

 **[Gobber loads the Black Sheep onto a catapult.]**

 **Astrid: Whooo-hooo!**

 **Tuffnut: Let's go, let's go, let's go!**

 **Gobber: (To the Black Sheep) This is your big moment. Have a nice flight!**

 **[He pulls the trigger, launching the Black Sheep into the air. Astrid spots it and steers Stormfly into a steep climb toward it.]**

The dragons seemed particularly enthralled by the flying sheep.

 **Astrid: Up, up, up!**

 **[In a flash, Fishlegs and Meatlug fly in and nab the sheep.]**

 **Astrid: NO!**

"No!"

"Yes!" Fishlegs jumped from his spot, fists in the air. He bent into his dragon to hug her almost immediately. "Good job, Meatlug!"

 **Fishlegs: YES! Good job, Meatlug!**

 **[Fishlegs tosses his captured prize to Ruffnut.]**

Ruffnut, Snotlout, and Fishlegs spoke at the same time. "What the-"

Tuffnut's loud laughter blocked out whatever they might have said.

 **Fishlegs: Here you go, darling! Mine's worth ten!**

"No!" Fishlegs cried into Meatug's back. "I was going to win!"

 **Ruffnut: Yeah! The Black Sheep!**

"Dude," said Snotlout, "you lost the moment you started courting _Ruffnut_."

"You're doing it too!"

 **Astrid: (To Snotlout) You guys are fighting for Ruffnut?!**

"I could do way better than either of you!" Ruffnut shouted out, glaring at both boys.

 **Ruffnut: I'm totally winning!**

 **Fishlegs: We're winning together!**

 **[She rams Barf into Meatlug, sending Fishlegs into an uncontrolled spin. He slams into Snotlout, sending their dragons tumbling head over tail. The crowd goes wild.]**

"Hey," Tuffnut broke out of his laughter, suddenly serious, "this is _my_ win! I don't want Ruffnut to win!"

 **Snotlout: Oh, no!**

 **Ruffnut: Whoo-hoo! No one can stop me now!**

"Except for me, genius!"

 **Tuffnut: Except for me. We're attached, genius! Quit trying-**

 **[He grabs at the sheep. Ruffnut fights back, inciting a tug-of-war.]**

 **Ruffnut: Hey!**

 **Tuffnut: -to steal all my glory!**

"Go me!"

"You're going to ruin our win, you idiot!"

 **[Astrid and Stormfly fly toward them. Astrid stands on Stormfly's back, keeping her balance.]**

 **Stoick: Get 'em, Astrid!**

 **Tuffnut: It's MY glory!**

 **Ruffnut: Always ruining EVERYTHING!**

 **Tuffnut: NO SHEEP, NO GLORY!**

Ruff and Tuff had a similar fight while the one onscreen was ongoing, their dragon watching them sway left and right.

"Watch and learn, Thorstons," Astrid crowed with the euphoria of certain glory. The twins stopped their fighting and looked at the screen.

 **[Astrid leaps off of Stormfly, runs up Belch's spindly neck, and plucks the Black Sheep from the Twins' hands.]**

 **Astrid: Gotcha! Ha-ha!**

 **[She tumbles through the air onto Stormfly, sticking a perfect landing, the Black Sheep in hand.]**

"No!"

"This is you fault!"

"No, it's yours!"

"She's winning now!"

 **Tuffnut: Whoa!**

 **Ruffnut: Astrid!**

 **Stoick: Well played! Ha, ha, ha! (To the crowd) That's my future daughter-in-law!**

The twins stopped fighting, turning to look at the future couple in the seats behind them.

Hiccup and Astrid weren't looking at each other, but they weren't trying to get away from each other either. If Astrid's head weren't bent, or her hair not in the way, one might've noticed her red cheeks.

Hiccup was being congratulated heartily by Gobber and his father. Gobber winking in an obvious fashion. His red face was clearly highlighted by the screen.

"Oh my gosh, congratulations!" Fishlegs cheered beside Snotlout. The boy beside him scoffed, looking at Astrid like she had missed out ( _which she totally had, duh_ ).

"I wanna plan the wedding!" Tuffnut hollered.

" _We_ wanna plan the wedding," Ruffnut joined in, shoving forward and pushing his head down. "We could come up with desserts!"

"Dessert!? Why stop at dessert? We could make Astrid's dress!"

"Toothless could be best man!"

"Best _dragon._ "

 **Fishlegs: Whoo-hoo!**

 **[Back to Astrid on Stormfly, eyeing the fast-approaching finish line, unaware as Fishlegs suddenly rams Meatlug into Stormfly, sending Astrid off-course. She recovers and sees Snotlout flying headlong toward her, war hammer cocked, aiming at Astrid.]**

 **Snotlout: Uh, excuse me!**

 **Astrid: Stormfly!**

"I mean," Gobber tried to get Astrid out of her sudden funk, "It's not like we didn't see this coming. Sure, Hiccup hasn't proposed yet, but you have kissed quite a few times."

"Very publicly," Stoick added; flawless logic.

"Dad, stop," Hiccup whined. Toothless seemed to understand enough to laugh at his voice. "Not you too!"

 **[Snotlout hurls his hammer. Astrid ducks and rolls Stormfly out of the way. The hammer catches Fishlegs in the face with a CLANG. The crowd collectively winces.]**

 **Crowd: Oh!**

 **[Astrid and Stormfly recover from their roll, loop over the water, and they blast past the finish line, dunking the Black Sheep into their basket! ASTRID WINS!]**

 **Stoick: That's thirteen! Astrid takes the game!**

 **[A shot shows two white sheep in the basket staring surprised at the Black Sheep's bottom]**

 **[The crowd comes unhinged. Astrid flies over the crowd, basking in her victory.]**

The twins booed, and Fishlegs accepted the victory with sportsmanship.

"Oh yeah!" Snotlout cheered. "She won it for me, baby!"

"I did not," Astrid growled, lifting her head up and glaring. Her cheeks were still red, but there was absolutely no way she was letting Snotlout declare _her_ win for himself.

 **Astrid: Yeah! Ooh-ooh!**

Hiccup, though initially worried about Astrid's behavior, smiled with relief. He thought that maybe, just maybe, she didn't want to marry him.

"She was just embarrassed," he laughed quietly, shoving Toothless playfully.

His dragon looked at him like he was stupid. 'Duh.'

"I wasn't," Astrid said, punching his arm.

"Ow," he leaned away, grabbing his limb. "Think she heard me?"

 **Hiccup: (V.O.) Yep. Berk is pretty much perfect. All of my hard work has paid off. And it's a good thing, too, because with Vikings on the backs of dragons, the world just got a whole lot bigger.**

 **[The scene changes to a boundless sky. Vast. Clear. Crisp. And from it, a black speck rockets across the horizon. The image of unbridled freedom. Tucked into his riding position, Hiccup appears to be part of Toothless. They dip, roll and dive, over a sea teeming with Thunderdrums, pulling off daring maneuvers with honed refinement, making them seem effortless.]**

"There he is," Gobber yelled, though maybe his voice was just naturally that loud.

"Flying," Stoick said, like he expected nothing else from his son, though not at all enthusiastically. Had he had…the talk…with Hiccup after all? What did it mean that Hiccup in turn had gone off on an adventure with his dragon instead of participated in the village event.

 **Hiccup: Yeah!**

 **[They jackknife, heading skyward, rolling and tumbling through the ethereal cloud-scapes and joining high-flying Timberjacks as they soar in formation. Hiccup is bound head-to-toe in a snug, aerodynamic flight suit - an asymmetrical, functional design of leather and articulated plates. It has an air of Viking bike leather.]**

"What am I wearing?" Hiccup almost sang, tilting his head to get a better view of the outfit. "Is that even me?" He looked taller.

 **Hiccup: What do you think, bud? Wanna give this another shot?**

"Sounds like you."

"Give what a shot," Stoick asked, looking at his son for answers.

"All I can do is shrug dad. Do you really want me to shrug?"

 **[Toothless grumbles in protest.]**

 **Hiccup: Toothless! It'll be fine.**

"Your dragon obviously doesn't like whatever you're going to do," Stoick protested.

 **[With a click of a lever, he locks the pedals in the flared tail position. Hiccup then unhooks himself from the saddle.]**

"He does this all the time," Snotlout complained, gesturing at the screen with boredom. "Astrid was _standing_ on her dragon a while ago, this is lame!"

 **Hiccup: Ready?**

 **[Toothless snorts unenthusiastically. Suddenly, Hiccup slides off of Toothless, peeling away from him like a skydiver from a plane, yelling as he plummets.**

"Now _that_ looks more interesting!"

"He looks like a nut," Tuffnut wiped a tear from his eye. "Hey sis, we should adopt Hiccup into our family. Hiccup Thorston has a nice ring to it."

Stoick ended the thought where it stood. "Hiccup will remain a Haddock." He turned to his son, a glare of either worry or contempt on his face. Hiccup decided it was probably worry. "What is going on in that window, son?"

"Um…"

 **Toothless dives after him. They spiral through the air, face-to-face. Toothless is having fun, despite himself. When he sees the ocean, Hiccup**

"You do this all the time?"

Hiccup wouldn't bring himself to lie. "Maybe."

"You do!?" Snotlout recoiled from his seat. "And you haven't invited me to see?"

"I want to watch too!" The twins shout.

"But never from such a high place! And I haven't tried letting Toothless fly solo to catch me yet!"

 **slips his forearms through a pair of tucked leather flaps, and yanks, unfurling sheets of leather as he extends his arms. They catch the wind, snapping like wings, and sending him gliding! Toothless unfolds his wings, too, catching up with Hiccup.**

"Whoa, what!"

Toothless jumped from his spot, the sudden wings on his rider sending his mind into turmoil.

Astrid looked at the screen in shock before turning to Hiccup. "You're flying?"

"I-I am!"

"Without a dragon!"

"I am!"

 **The freedom is palpable. Hiccup and Toothless are, for the moment, the same. Feeling the same rush of adrenaline. Independently together. They plunge past cloud formations, splitting apart then crossing paths again.**

'It looks very fun,' Toothless silently admitted to himself. He'd destroyed the new tail Hiccup built him last week. The thought of flying without Hiccup had simply been unbearable.

This, however, was amazing (His rider was amazing).

 **Hiccup: This is amazing!**

He could fly with Hiccup, but he could also just…fly. It was clear he had a choice, but he still chose Hiccup. Every time, he would choose Hiccup.

Toothless and Hiccup's eyes coincided, and Toothless could tell Hiccup was thinking the same thing. He gave his human a gummy smile, in turn getting a toothy one.

 **[A cloud layer washes past, exposing a towering rock formation, dead ahead.]**

 **Hiccup: No longer amazing! Toothless!**

Well, never mind. Moment ruined. Toothless covered his face with his paws, a dragon facepalm if you will. Isolating himself from the situation at hand. This was not his problem at this exact moment.

 **[Hiccup tries to steer himself away, to no avail. Toothless pours on the speed, trying to catch Hiccup as he hurtles toward collision. His locked tail makes maneuvering difficult. He's unable to pull up at a steep enough angle.]**

 **Hiccup: Oh, no! AHH!**

Perhaps he was a bit worried. Toothless uncovered his eyes to look at the screen. His irises narrowed at the sight of rock formation in Hiccup's way.

 **[At the last second, Toothless BLASTS the jagged rocks just ahead of Hiccup, then wraps Hiccup in his wings as they fly through it. The obliterated peak rains down around them. Toothless emerges through the cloud of debris and hurtles into the trees of a neighboring peak. They tumble down the uneven terrain, coming to rest on a small plateau. Hiccup emerges from the cocoon of Toothless' wings.**

The entire room collapses with relief.

"That was fun!" Snotlout grinned. "Not the ending I had mind, but fun!"

The twins agreed wholeheartedly. Fishlegs looked a little green, but he managed to let out a small cheer for Hiccup's survival.

 **He switches his prosthetic riding foot to his walking foot and stows his leather wings.]**

"Whoa nelly," Tuff said. "Hiccup looks hot!" He turned to his sister, elbowing her arm. "Whaddya say, Ruff? Ruffnut Haddock sure sounds nice, doesn't it?"

Snotlout scoffed. "Pfft, not that hot. Did you see me? I actually had a beard!"

"So did I!" Fishlegs shot out.

"Shut up," Ruffnut said, possibly to all of them, unphased.

Hiccup shivered. A nut in his family? Sure, Haddocks were crazy, but Thorstons were _insane_.

 **Hiccup: That really came out of nowhere.**

Stoick gave his son the stare of disapproval Hiccup always dreaded.

"That's not me now!" he defended, gesturing at the screen with conviction.

 **[The sea stack cracks and falls]**

"Yea," Gobber added with a sly grin. "It's _going_ to be him, Stoick."

"It's an occupational hazard!"

"Not everything that could kill you is occupational, Hiccup."

 **[Toothless grumbles]**

"Ah, but it didn't kill me,' Hiccup retaliated, putting an arm around the night fury. "Toothless was there to protect me, weren't you bud?"

 **Hiccup: We gotta work on your solo flying there, bud. That locked-up tail makes for some pretty sloppy rescue maneuvers, eh?**

Toothless hit his rider with the back of his tail.

"Ow, I'm surrounded by people who could beat me up in a pinch, this isn't fair!"

Astrid raised a brow to contrast her small smile. "Life isn't fair, Hiccup."

While she was a little adverse to the things Hiccup considered fun, it was his crazy that made him just so…Hiccup.

Besides, once he figured out how to fly beside his dragon, he could build her a suit with wings too!

 **Hiccup: Oh. Looks like we found another one, bud.**

"Avoiding the topic," Gobber commented.

"Another what?" Ruff asked.

"Where are you anyway?" Fishlegs followed.

 **[An annoyed Toothless throws a small pebble at Hiccup's head.]**

 **Hiccup: Oh, what? Do you want an apology? Is that why you're pouting, big baby boo?**

"What the heck," Snotlout laughed loudly, holding his stomach with both arms. "Big- big baby boo!?"

Hiccup covered his face with his hands, avoiding anyone's looks. This was a private moment!

 **Well... try this on! [Hugs him, tries to wrestle with him] Ya feeling it yet? Huh? Picking up on all of my heartfelt remorse?**

Snotlout and the twins were falling out of their seats, they were laughing so hard. Even Astrid started chuckling next to Hiccup, though her volume was steadily increasing as the scene progressed.

Fishlegs tried speaking between giggles. "I don't think he is," he answered.

 **[Toothless playfully dangles him off the edge of a cliff.]**

 **Hiccup: (Groans) Oh, come on. You wouldn't hurt a one legged- AHH!**

 **[Toothless laughs]**

The laughter is contagious, and the entire room is filled with it. No one isn't laughing.

 **Hiccup: You're right! You're right! You win! You win!**

Hiccup can admit to himself it was funny.

 **[Toothless falls backwards]**

 **Hiccup: Whoa, whoa, whoa! [Playing with Toothless] He's down! And it's ugly! Dragons and Vikings, enemies again, locked in combat to the bitter-[Toothless pins Hiccup] -URFFF!**

Stoick's smile remains on his face, though his eyes crinkle with some sort of fatherly pride.

"He's never liked roughhousing before," he said, tapping Gobber's shoulder.

"Oh, sure he has." Gobber tried waving off the comment, but it occurred to him that he hadn't ever seen Hiccup horseplay with any of the teens. Not when he was younger and certainly not now that they all looked to him as a leader who was also easily breakable.

He remembered, in fact, once thinking that if Hiccup had any siblings, he might not have been so delicate.

"Astrid hits him all the time," Gobber concluded out loud to Stoick.

 **[Toothless starts to lick him]**

Silently, Gobber thought that maybe Toothless was to Hiccup more of a brother than any other human would ever be.

"Gahhh," in front of him, Hiccup groaned and pushed his dragon playfully. "You _know_ that doesn't wash out!"

 **Hiccup: (Groans) Gaaaaagh! You KNOW that doesn't wash out.**

It was so funny, Gobber began to laugh again.

 **[Toothless laughs and Hiccup splashes some spit on Toothless' face]**

 **[Hiccup looks around at the new island he discovered and pulls out his map]**

"You're making a map of the world," Fishlegs gasped. "What if you find the edge!? You might fall off!"

Stoick thought about the edge and he thought about Hiccup and he thought about Hiccup's dragon. He thought of his boy in his arms when he was smaller than a sheep.

"I have a dragon to catch me, Fishlegs," Hiccup said, unaware of Stoick's shining eyes. "We can fly out just fine."

"Oh, right," Fishlegs conceded easily.

 **Hiccup: So what should we name it?**

 **[Toothless chews at his armpit]**

 **Hiccup: "Itchy Armpit" it is.**

"That's how you name things?" Fishlegs yelped.

 **Whaddya reckon, bud? Think we might find a few Timberjacks in those woods? The odd Whispering Death or two in the rocks? Who knows...**

Fishlegs shook his head. "A Whispering Death? Are you insane?"

"I'm sure they're friendlier than the Book of Dragons has us believe," Astrid said. "Besides, I'm sure than if no one can tame a Whispering Death, Hiccup would still manage it."

"Y-you're giving me way too much credit," Hiccup said with a flushed face.

"No pressure." Astrid winked. All the pressure.

"If you tame one, can I have it?" Tuffnut exclaimed. "Whispering Death sounds _way_ cooler than Hideous Zippleback-" The last word came out a bit choked, as Belch's head had landed on him heavily.

 **maybe we'll finally track down another Night Fury. Wouldn't that be something? So, whaddya say? Just keep going?**

 _We haven't found another Night Fury,_ Hiccup thought with droopy shoulders.

 **[Toothless replies 'no']**

"Lazy lizard," Hiccup said. Toothless grumbled beside him. Maybe if the crazy little human stopped jumping from his back and almost crashing into rocks he'd be more cooperative.

Deciding grumbling wasn't nearly enough to express to Hiccup that he should really be more grateful, Toothless flipped his ear to hit him upside the head.

"Ow!"

Clara laughed.

* * *

 **There! People were asking me to do the first five minutes clip! Sure, they asked years ago, but I finally did it!**

 **Like I mentioned before, I haven't read a watching the movie for HTTYD2, so I don't think I'm sufficiently frustrated/inspired to finish this, but I want to read it. And in order to read it, I have to finish it. Damn catch. It definitely won't get done before the 3rd movie comes out, I can tell you that much.**

 **Since this time I'm posting as I go (unlike last time, in which I finished writing before beginning to upload), this will be disgustingly raw and unedited until I re-edit it. Not for grammar (always for grammar), but for different details. I went back to edit stuff in and out of scenes I was _way_ past last time too. Like, I'll notice someone's not acting consistent enough, or I'm ignoring a main character in some way. Hate doing that, always doing that.**

 **By the way, did you see that little hint at Hidden World there? At least I think I got that from the trailer and not from reading too much fanfic. Whatever.**

 **Since this is PG-13 (or 14?), I'm not allowed to use the word fuck again. Oh wait...**


	3. Awkward Haddock Conversation

**Here! Take this incredibly raw chapter! I'm (sorta) on a roll! The chapters are getting shorter, I'll admit.**

 **I need to find the rest of the movie. Would you hate me if I told you I don't remember how the following scene goes? That's half the reason I decided to cut of the chapter there.**

* * *

 **[A dragon screech catches their attention. Astrid and Stormfly land on the island and enter the scene]**

"Ooh, the lovely couple has been left alone," Gobber hooted, making said couple's shoulder's rise to their ears. This was a private moment! What were they going to see?

They made themselves redder at the thought. They wouldn't do anything too…intimate…with their dragons around, right?

 **[Toothless runs over excitedly to greet Stormfly]**

"Ah, dragon interaction," Fishlegs cooed.

 **Hiccup: Afternoon, m'lady. Where have you been?**

"M'lady, huh?" Gobber said.

"I call her m'lady all the time!" Hiccup's ears were red.

"Oh," Gobber sang. Hiccup sank into his seat.

Clara giggled.

 **Astrid: Winning races. What else? The real question is... where have YOU been?**

Hiccup had almost forgotten the witch was there.

He turned to shoot her a glare. She was at the very back. Beside her was another dragon. A Stormcutter. Was it hers? Movement behind the dragon made him think twice.

He squinted at a shadow behind the Stormcutter. There was someone else here besides them.

"Who-" he wanted to ask, but his own words cut him off.

 **Hiccup: Avoiding my dad.**

"Oh no," Gobber said in exasperation. Usually he'd be Hiccup's go-to guy in this situation, but that was all someone else's problem now. The boy could pick an choose between facing his dad, Astrid, and even his dragon now. He didn't need Gobber. Good riddance.

"What?" Stoick asked.

 **Astrid: Oh, no. What happened now?**

 **Hiccup: Oh, you're gonna love this.**

"You seemed well versed in complaining about me, Hiccup," Stoick asked without much amusement.

"He is," Gobber provided.

 **I wake up. The sun's shining. Terrible Terrors are singing on the rooftop. I saunter down to breakfast, thinking all is right with the world and I get: [Imitating Stoick] "Son, we need to talk."**

"Are you imitating me?" Stoick asked with a glare.

"He does it a lot," Gobber responded with a knowing nod.

Hiccup sunk into his seat, avoiding his father's eyes. This was why privacy was important. He would never dare imitate Stoick the Vast in front of the man himself!

 **Astrid: [Imitates Hiccup] "Not now, Dad. I've got a whole day of goofing off to get started."**

Already having lost enough dignity, Hiccup shot up and stared at the present Astrid in bewilderment. "Not you too!"

"She does it even better than me!" Ruffnut shouted.

 **Hiccup: Okay, first of all, I don't sound like that. What is this character?**

"Yeah you do. She even did the shoulder thing," Snotlout said.

"What shoulder thing?"

 **And second... what is that thing you're going with my shoulders?**

"I don't have a shoulder thing," Hiccup continued. The room burst out laughing.

 **Astrid does the shoulder thing again.**

 **Hiccup: A truly flattering impersonation. Anyway he goes: [Imitating Stoick] "You're the pride of Berk, son, and I couldn't be prouder..."**

 **Astrid: [Imitates Hiccup talking to his dad] "Aw, thanks, Dad. I'm pretty impressed with myself, too."**

"And now the hands," Hiccup might have sounded exasperated, but looking at his face, you could tell there was a wide smile on his lips.

 **Hiccup: [Laughing] WHEN have I ever done that with my hands?**

"You totally have a hand thing," Snotlout said.

"You do," Astrid finally admitted. She had been too busy controlling her laughter to talk before, but even now she was having trouble keeping the giggling to a minimum.

 **Astrid: You just did.**

Hiccup chuckled at himself. _Maybe I do move a lot when I talk_ , he thought, glancing at his hands with a smile.

 **Hiccup: Okay... just... hold still. It's very serious.**

"Aww," Fishlegs cooed, hands under his chin.

Snotlout scoffed at the girly stuff going on in his manly presence.

 **Hiccup: "You're all grown up, and since no chief could ask for a better successor, I've decided-"**

Oh. Hiccup's smile froze on his face.

 **Astrid: TO MAKE YOU CHIEF! Oh, my gods! Hiccup, that's amazing! [Punches him hard in the chest]**

Oh.

Though the teens were congratulating him, Hiccup couldn't hear anything but swallowing. Loud gulp.

 **[Hiccup grunts, Astrid laughs. Hiccup's fin pops out.]**

Noticing his distress, Toothless bent his nose to Hiccup, sniffing him and bumping their heads together.

"I'm good, Toothless," Hiccup assured him. He wasn't freaking out internally or anything.

 **Hiccup: You're gonna wear out the spring coil. The calibration is very sensitive!**

No freaking out going in Hiccup's brain, nope.

 **[Toothless and Stormfly come running past chasing each other and knock over Astrid and Hiccup]**

The image of what seemed to be thousands of villagers surrounding him and asking questions he could not answer did not pop into Hiccup's mind at all.

 **Hiccup: Yeah, so... this is what I'm dealing with.**

Maybe Hiccup was feeling a little helpless. A little useless.

 **Astrid: What did you tell him?**

He glanced at his father, who was already boring his eyes into his head. Immediately he ducked behind his seat and turned around to look at the screen.

"Hiccup?" Astrid looked worried now too. Great, his girlfriend and his dragon were mother-henning him now.

 **Hiccup: I didn't. By the time he turned around, I was gone.**

Hiccup could understand his future actions very well. Hel, he'd run away right now if he could, but no matter how hard he tried, his legs wouldn't move.

Unsure if it was Clara's fault or not, he glared at the screen (since glaring at Clara would mean turning around and possibly facing Stoick again).

 **Astrid: Well, it's a lot of responsibility. The map will have to wait for sure, and I'll need to fly Toothless, since you'll be too busy...**

Hiccup hadn't even thought of that! He looked up sharply, his eyes wider than before. He wouldn't even have time to ride Toothless as chief. It was sounding like a more and more miserable life by the second.

Astrid put a hand on his shoulder, giving him a compassionate look that he didn't really need right now.

 **[Astrid realizes what she just said]**

 **Hiccup: It's not me, Astrid. All those speeches, and planning, and running the village... that's his thing.**

"Hiccup," Stoick spoke softly. His voice still thundered in Hiccup's ears. "I hoped that one day you would grow to care for the village in the same way I do."

Oh no. He sounded disappointed.

 **Astrid: I think you're missing the point. I mean, chief. What an honor. I'd be pretty excited.**

"Oh no," Hiccup shook his head and turned to face his father, a little mad at his tone. First the villagers crowding, then Astrid's pitying eyes, now this? "Don't look at _me_ , dad."

His father gave him a surprised look.

 **Hiccup: I'm not like you. You know exactly who you are. You always have. But... I'm still looking.**

"You too, Astrid," Hiccup added. He pointed at the screen. "Look at him, don't look at me. I have no idea what to do right now if you look at _me_ like that." Astrid was stunned into silence.

 **I know that I'm not my father... and I never met my mother... so, what does that make me?**

"You don't have to run from it, Hiccup," Astrid finally whispered.

"If he gets to," again, he pointed at the screen, "then so do I."

Clara paused the movie with raised eyebrows, looking at the three. This was unanticipated. Wasn't everything fine now?

"You're afraid of being chief even now," Stoick insisted. Cheated, like a barmaid had skimped on the meat in his sandwich.

 _Oof_ , Clara winced.

"Of course I am, dad," Hiccup exclaimed with a wild gesture, nearly hitting Toothless' ear. "I'm just a teenager."

Toothless risked the potential harm via Hiccup's wild hands and pushed himself on his rider, inadvertently making him lower his volume. 'You good, fam?' He couldn't ask, but the intent was there.

"Uh," Fishlegs grabbed Snotlout and the twins' attention, as well as their shoulders, forcing them to face away from the Haddock, future-Haddock, and basically-a-Haddock gang. "H-have I told you guys this very interesting fact about, uh, about the Scauldron?"

"Only about twenty times," Tuffnut said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, uh-um…"

Meanwhile, Basically-a-Haddock-Gobber joined the tenser conversation to liaison, a task which he hadn't had to put much effort into since Toothless joined the Haddocks. "Oh, he's just being a stubborn one, Stoick. Just like you when you were his age!"

Stoick disagreed. "I was ready to take care of my people at his age."

"I'm not you," Hiccup said, frowning hard. "Didn't you hear me up there? No, of course you didn't, you never listen."

Gobber winced and Stoick sat a little taller.

Astrid tried to intervene before something very bad happened but was cut off before she could even begin by the chief.

Gobber gave Astrid a nod and a knowing look. _This is what your future looks like_ , his eyes said.

"And you never obey," Stoick shot back. "If you don't feel ready to become a chief, the entire village will suffer for it. You must play your part!"

Astrid frowned, feeling a little indignant at the implications of his statement. Hiccup had done plenty for Berk, and the future looked brighter than ever because of it. The prophecy was testament to that.

"Now Stoick," Gobber tried to calm his friend down. "Let's not forget-"

"I trained a dragon," Hiccup said. He looked downward, not wanting to glare at his dad directly.

Gobber and Astrid looked at him in surprise. Was Hiccup standing up for himself? It almost brought a tear to Gobber's eye, seeing the boy finally grow a spine.

Hiccup continued, more quietly this time. "I trained a dragon, and the war is finally over because of it. But," he gave a faulty chuckle, looking timidly at his hands. "I'm not just a dragon trainer. I'm _the_ dragon trainer. Whenever there's a problem with dragons, I'm apparently the go-to guy."

Astrid frowned. _Of course_ , she thought. Who else were they going to ask?

Stoick almost spoke again, to ask what this had to do with anything. Hiccup's somber mood had already made him calm down, but he couldn't let go of the topic at hand. His son was meant to be a chief! He could feel it.

"Just a few months ago, I wasn't anyone," Hiccup finished. "I was just…useless."

Clara kind of wanted to suck in a breath through her teeth, but instead she turned to the dragon rider behind her, who wanted answers. Now.

She figured she'd left the poor lady hanging for long enough.

Stoick's shoulder's drooped immediately, feeling like a terrible father. Here he was, scolding Hiccup for things he hadn't done yet when the boy was still...

He was unwilling to think of any descriptor for whatever Hiccup still was at the moment (overwhelmed, suffering, healing but not healed, words of emotions that Vikings would only admit to having to their closest loved ones), so he ended that line of thought.

 _Hiccup is still a teenager_ , he finally allowed. And, like all teenagers, it was perfectly reasonable of him to let his emotions get the better of him.

"Hiccup," he started. The three around him perked their ears, grimacing in anticipation for Stoick's words. "You're right," he said.

Gobber's jaw fell open.

All they could hear was Fishleg's speaking for a moment.

"I…am?" Hiccup raised his eyes. "I didn't think you'd-"

Astrid elbowed him hard, whispering in his ear, "Quit while you're ahead!"

He scowled and rubbed his bruised arm.

Stoick continued, feigning ignorance. "I shouldn't be taking this out on you. Not now at least. Whatever happens in the future," he put his large hand on Hiccup's small shoulder, "know that I will always be proud of you."

Stoick had been trying hard to listen to Hiccup for a while now. Hiccup knew that. It made for awkward father-son talks that still left a warm feeling in his chest after the uncomfortable "see you later." It proved the whole dragon fiasco wasn't just a fluke, even though Hiccup was not as eloquent in dragon training as he could be.

"Thanks, dad," he responded. A small smile on his lips, but also a furious blush on his face. This was suddenly a very embarrassing conversation to be having in front of Astrid and the other teenagers.

With a quick glance, Hiccup saw that the teens were occupied with dragon facts that were spilling out of Fishleg's mouth at an unnatural rate.

 _Thanks, Fishlegs,_ he tried to send the thought telepathically. It must have worked, because the teen sent him a secret thumb up in return.

He looked Astrid in the eyes, and they formed a silent pact to never speak of this moment ever again. She bumped his shoulder with hers (still a little painful, but better than a punch), assuring him that she had never thought the dragon fiasco to be a fluke.

Gobber had already tuned in to many familial discussions and arguments; he knew the drill.

Finally, Hiccup turned to Toothless and very seriously stated, "This never happened."

Toothless was too happy to see him content again. He licked Hiccup, drowning his clothes in saliva.

"Augh, stop!"

"Hey, when's the show starting," Snotlout complained from the front, his hands over Fishleg's mouth. He looked ready to murder someone, which he might if he had to listen to another number come out of Fishleg's mouth.

Clara glanced away from the guest of honor. "Oh, you're done?"

"Who are you talking to?" Snotlout asked curiously.

"Play." The movie began again.

Without getting an answer, Snotlout and the teens turned around to face the screen again. Whatever, not their problem.

Hiccup continued to stare at Clara's guest a while longer before turning around. Suspicious…

 **Astrid: What you're searching for... isn't out there, Hiccup. [Puts her hand to Hiccup's chest] It's in here. Maybe you just don't see it yet.**

The moment was too touching to be embarrassing. Astrid bumped her shoulder into Hiccup's again, giving him a small smile. He returned it.

 **[Astrid kisses Hiccup but pulls back with Toothless' spit on her face. Disgusted, she tries to wipe it off.]**

"Ha!" Snotlout snorted, slapping his knee.

"Disgusting," Ruffnut complained.

Astrid shivered at the sight. "Toothless," she complained.

 **Hiccup: Maybe. But, y'know... there is something out there.**

 **Astrid: Hiccup...**

 **[He grabs Astrid's chin and points her straight ahead of them, showing her a large cloud of smoke.]**

The group is silent at the sight. Suspense builds.

* * *

 **The other half of the reason why the chapter cuts off here is because the Awkward yet tender Haddock moments are pretty much over. Did you like that intermission there? Most of this chapter wasn't even about watching the movie! Even I feel cheated!**


End file.
